Do Air Fryers Cook Faster? (All You Need to Know!)

Air Fryers cook your meals without oils. These smart appliances save your cooking time and how. But when compared to oven or deep fryers are they faster and more agile?

Do air fryers cook faster?

Air fryers cook faster when compared to either a conventional oven or toaster oven. Compared to both these appliances, air fryers are more compact and concentrates heat from the top shelf. Additionally, air fryers do not require extra oil or necessary preheating to cook the food.

On average, it would take only 3 minutes for an air fryer to increase the temperatures to as high as 350-degree freethought. Depending on what you are about to cook and the power of your air fryer, this time will vary.

Do air fryers cook food faster than deep fryers?

Air fryers certainly cook food faster than deep fryers. If you notice deep fryers, you’ll need large amounts of oil that first needs to be heated before the actual frying starts.

In the case of air fryers, the heat that rises does so to cook the food directly, not the oil.

Does an air fryer cook faster than an oven?

An oven and an air fryer are quite similar in mechanism, but an air fryer cooks food faster primarily due to its small and more compact size.

Moreover, the oven also requires a considerable amount of time to preheat before the actual cooking time starts and hence takes more time overall.

Does an air fryer cook faster than a toaster oven?

Air fryers use the convection mechanism while toaster ovens use radiation from the back.

Due to the smaller size of air fryers and quick air circulations due to the large fan, air fryers can reach higher temperatures in a shorter time and hence cook faster than toaster ovens. If a toaster oven is powerful and has a fan, it might cook even faster.

Why do air fryers cook so fast?

Air fryers do cook food very quickly. Whether you want to compare it to a traditional stove, a conventional oven, or a few toaster ovens, when it comes to saving cooking time, an air fryer always wins the race.

Here are the main reasons why air fryers are a champion in cooking faster:

Compact in size:

We already know that in ovens heat comes from the top and bottom while in air fryers, the heating element is only placed at the top. Logically, ovens should cook fasters due to more heat dissipation, right? 

The reason that air fryers come out first when it comes to cooking in less time is their compact size. The smaller the heating area, the less time you’d need to cook. 

This also means that heating coming from the top only indicates that the heat is concentrated on the food and hence the cooking time reduces significantly. 

Little to No preheating required:

If you have used an air fryer and an oven, you would already be aware of the quarter of the extra cooking time that you would have to allocate just to preheat an oven. 

If you are preheating an oven for 15 minutes before getting the food inside the furnace the total cooking time is already more than it might require to cook in an air fryer. 

The convection mechanism in an air fryer will directly blow very hot air to the food inside the chambers. 

If you have a small air fryer to cook a single person’s meal, you would need no more than 2 minutes before the cooking process has gone underway. Pre heating can still be done in air fryers for more even cooking. 

No liquid or oil required:

If you want a plate of French fries, you’ll need to heat up a lot of oil. Once the oil is hot, it would only take minutes to make the crisp French fries. However, the oil does take a sizable amount of time to heat up, just like in a deep fryer on a stove. 

We do agree that with an air fryer and without any oil your French fried would probably not taste the same or even as crispy. With the high heat-blasting technique, an air fryer finishes up the cooking without needing to heat the oil.

The fan speed and fan size:

Surely the compact size of air fryers contribute and help in letting the appliance heat up as quickly as possible. Two more factors also help in better heat distribution inside air fryers and hence better less cooking time. 

The large fan size in air fryers which is placed at the top and just below the heating elements on that position greatly helps with the heat distribution and quick space heating. 

Furthermore, it also aids that the fan inside an air fryer is at least 30 to 35 percent higher in speed than any convection oven that also has a fan, but those are smaller in size and slower in speed.

How much faster does an air fryer cook?

To demonstrate just how fast an air fryer can cook your meals, you may find it useful that an average, even single air fryer would take only 3 minutes to reach a temperature of 320 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Comparing this time to a conventional oven where you would need to preheat the appliance for about 15 minutes just to reach the same temperature. Although you have the option to preheat your air fryer, you can still save this time and jump straight to cooking.

Since air fryers require no prior oil heating, you can save at least 7 to 10 minutes if you had been cooking in a deep fryer. On medium heat, oil would take at least the stated time to reach 350-degree Fahrenheit.

The closest heating time to an air fryer is of a toaster oven that takes about 5 to 7 minutes to reach about 400-degree Fahrenheit.

Yet, since air fryers are smaller in size and have a better heat distribution system, air fryers can cook your meals in shorter time periods than toaster ovens.

Air fryer cooking times chart – How long do air fryers take?

How long air fryers would take to cook something would vary according to what is being cooked. It would also depend on whether the food you are cooking is frozen or fresh.

Of course, other than that, the power and size of your air fryers would determine how long it might take to cook up a meal.

To give you a more detailed idea of what time each food group requires to be fully cooked, you can scheme through the chart below for temperatures between 180 to 200 degrees Celsius:  

Food Item	Time in minutes
Boneless chicken breast	12 to 15
Whole chicken	65 to 75
Sirloin Steak	9 to 14
Meatballs	7 to 10
French Fries	14 to 18
Chicken Nuggets	10
Fish Fillets	14
Bone-in Lamb roast	50
Sausages	15
Broccoli	6
Mushrooms	5
Carrots	15
Whole baked potato	30 to 40
Muffins	15
Pudding	20

Do air fryers need to preheat?

While it is certainly not necessary to preheat an air fryer, you can still go ahead and preheat the appliance if you want to.

However, for some food to cook better, it is advisable that you preheat your fryer beforehand. Even if you do, no more than 10 minutes of turning on the fryer before dropping in the raw food would be enough.

For example, thick frozen proteins or food that you want to have a soft texture outside does not need to be preheated. Bakery items, likewise, can be cooked on an air fryer without the obligation to preheat.

If you have frozen foods, leftovers, or French fries that you intend to have a crispy coating, a brief preheating can let you cook tastier.

Should an air fryer be seasoned?

It is vital that an air fryer is seasoned before cooking or after cleaning. This is especially important to make sure that whatever is cooked inside the air fryer does not stick to the inner basket and walls of the fryer.

After cleaning and lightly drying your air fryer, you’ll need to use some coconut oil and a paper towel to grease or season the top of the fryer basket. Remember to not use too much oil for seasoning!

How do I convert cooking times for an air fryer?

If you know the cooking time for an oven, you would want to follow a rule to convert the times for an air fryer.

For this, at first decrees the temperature mentioned by 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Then reduce the cooking time by subtracting 20% of the time from the total said time.

You can pause the air fryer and flip and check your food to make sure it is well-cooked.

Do air fryers get rid of bacteria?

As with any high heat exposure, air fryers also get rid of bacteria. This is because the blow of heat that comes from air fryers is well above the usual temperature used to sterilize food.

Due to the high heat and many minutes of heat exposure on the food, most bacteria would certainly be destroyed once in contact with the heat.

Air fryers are a champion in the race of cooking quickly. Due to its small size and ability to raise tremendous temperatures quickly, an air fryer cooks faster than an oven. Air fryers also have even heat distribution and only need preheating occasionally depending on what the food is.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why are Air Fryers so Expensive?

Can Air Fryers Overheat? How Hot Do Air Fryers Get?

Can Air Fryers Reheat Food?

Does an Air Fryer Make Food Crispy?

Does an Air Fryer Add Calories?

Can Air Fryer Replace Toaster Oven?